15 The New King of the Court
Inarizaki High School (Hyogo Prefecture)
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"Oi, Tsumu, check this out, ye've been dethroned." Miya Osamu threw the issue of the Volleyball Monthly at his twin, Miya Atsumu. It hit him dead center in the face. Atsumu was about to throw back the copy of the magazine at his twin when the header of the page which hit his face caught his attention.
'The New King of the Court'
Interview done by: Enaga Fumi
Featuring: Kageyama Tobio (2nd Year Setter – Karasuno High School)
Atsumu's golden orbs widened in shock. 'How could this be?!' He ran his eyes through the text once more and when he assured he wasn't reading it wrong, he flipped through the next page and boom, there's the goody-two-shoes from Karasuno – Kageyama Tobio, smiling awkwardly like the asshole that he is.
He propped down on the nearest available seat and read the entire damn thing:
**
It was a privilege to be able to visit Miyagi and get to know more one of the players who showed an incredible promising talent during the previous Spring Cup Tournament. In this short interview, we will be asking a few things to the New King of the Court, Kageyama Tobio of Karasuno High School. Without any further ado, here we go! (He's seems different from what you'd expect from him)
< Recorded Interview Transcript >
Fumi: Hello, Kageyama-kun. How's it going?
Kageyama: Well, exams aren't coming yet…..
Fumi: ?
Kageyama: ….so I guess I'm fine
Fumi: I see. Looks like you are training hard for the next tournament, got any goals in mind?
Kageyama: Championship.
Fumi: Well, isn't that just the same for others? So how are the preparations going for Karasuno High School?
Kageyama: The rookies seems to share our enthusiasm. We, the juniors and seniors, are also doing our best.
Fumi: That is good to know. Do you know what the high school volleyball fandom calls you now?
Kageyama: Huh? What is that?
Fumi: 'The New King of the Court'
Kageyama: (At this point a dark aura formed around Kageyama-kun and I got worried that he might actually abrubtly end the interview, seeing him scowl like that is kinda intimidating, but then a volleyball hit the back of his head, and he turned his attention to the one who accidentally hit him)
Kageyama: HINATA BOKE!
(Several minutes have passed before Kageyama returned to the area where I was doing the interview. It was their team captain who dragged him back for us to finish.)
Kageyama: Sorry.
Fumi: Er – so, how do you feel about it, Kageyama-kun? Everyone calls you the 'New King of the Court' right now. Why do you think they gave you that title?
Kageyama: I don't really care about that title. What's more important is to win.
Fumi: But do you agree with their assessment of you, as the 'New King of the Court'?
Kageyama: There are others who are better than me.
Fumi: That's a humble thing to say, but many sports critics say otherwise. They even compared you to Hyogo's Miya Atsumu, and some of them said that you might even be a better setter than him. What can you say about that?
[Back in Inarizaki, Miya Atsumu was gripping the pages of the Volleyball Monthly really tight, that Osamu thought he shouldn't have thrown it to his brother, as he was worried he might rip the copy.]
Kageyama: Miya Atsumu-san, is a very incredible setter. His tosses are very easy to hit, never wavering and never off, thus creating the illusion that the spikers have improved. Atsumu-san is always ready to go the extra mile to give his spikers the best toss possible even in difficult positions whereby an underarm toss is the norm. He is also capable of perfectly coordinating with his twin in pulling off the God-Like Quick similar to ours.
Fumi: And?
Kageyama: ?? and…. He is also an excellent server. His team gave us a hard time.
[Atsumu huffed, relaxing a little bit after reading Kageyama's praises to him. Osamu snickered, aware that his twin might be getting to that part of the interview by now.]
Fumi: But the comparison of the critics always point out that you've got the upper hand when it comes to accuracy of the sets. Also, it doesn't change the fact that your team won against theirs.
Kageyama: True. But that isn't all there is for Inarizaki's strength.
Fumi: Can you elaborate on that?
Kageyama: Er – to be honest, they are very formidable. If the tournament format is different, for example if we play a single round robin in a group before proceeding to the next round, even if we won against them in our game, I'm pretty sure Inarizaki would've wreaked havoc in the lower brackets, climbing their way back up after falling just a little bit behind us.
Fumi: That's an interesting take. What is your current worry?
Kageyama: ...
Fumi: Kageyama-kun?
Kageyama: ….. my nails
Fumi: ?
Kageyama: I haven't trimmed them since last week. I want to keep them in pristine condition. Even one millimeter can cause a change. I should do it now, excuse me (He suddenly stood up and was about to go somewhere, when his team captain stepped in and apologized again, and told him to finish the interview first)
Fumi: Uh – aside from your nails, Kageyama-kun. What worries you right now? Or I think I should rephrase that. What are you looking forward to in the upcoming Inter-High Qualifiers?
Kageyama: I look forward to having a match against the teams here in our prefecture. Miyagi has lots of incredible teams. If we get careless, we might never know what will hit us.
Fumi: I totally get you. And I'm really grateful that you granted us this interview invitation. Any messages for your fans out there?
Kageyama: We will go out there and prove once more that Karasuno's team is no longer a team of the 'Fallen Powerhouse of Old' nor the 'Flightless Crows of Miyagi'. We will win, this time. And, this is not really from me, but from my previous senpai who already graduated.
Fumi: Which is?
Kageyama: 'If you're gonna hit it, hit it 'til it breaks.'
Fumi: That's it! Splendid! Thank you Kageyama-kun!
< End of Recorded Interview >
Our staff is thankful to Karasuno's Coach Ukai Keishin for allowing us to do this interview, and for your hospitality during our visit. Make sure to check out the next rising superstar we will interview in the next issue!
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Bonus content! Kageyama Tobio Information Sheet
Name: Kageyama Tobio
School: Karasuno High School (Miyagi)
Height: 181cm
As a high-caliber setter, Kageyama unifies his team with his overwhelming talent. He has learned to utilize his skills to bring out the best of his spikers.
In addition to his astounding accuracy and technical skills as a setter, Kageyama is a skilled all-rounder with a remarkable grasp of both the basics and the complexities of volleyball. He is capable of playing many other positions, including wing spiker, but chooses to become a setter due to his love for being the team's control tower
Skills:
Pinpoint Accuracy: Kageyama's most prominent and praised skill is his ability to accurately determine a ball's trajectory and tossing it to the exact point. Combined with the fact that he can set from any angle at incredible speeds, this makes his sets and quick attacks almost impossible for his opponents to predict and counter.
Jump Serve: Kageyama has a powerful jump serve that his opponents are wary of. If left untouched, he could go on a rampage and destroy his opponents with his serves alone.
Dump Set: Kageyama often utilizes dump sets and rarely gets blocked. He's adept at finding the perfect moments to perform a dump set, often surprising both his foes and teammates.
**
By the time Atsumu was finished with reading, he turned to his brother and commented, "Nah. Yer wrong, Samu. It didn't say I ain't anymore the Nation's Number 1 setter. That Tobio-kun still has a long way to go." And he threw the magazine back at Osamu, who was busy eating some pudding.
